We got an Amazon Echo for Christmas and it’s up there with the top gifts this year. Here are the three ways that Alexa has changed the household so far.

1. I’m addicted to voice

One great thing about having an Echo is realising how convenient voice activated technology can be. Want to switch on the radio? No need to get off the sofa. Want to change the channel? No fiddling around with buttons or dials. Etc. This is great, but the flip side is that it’s extremely frustrating that everything else can’t be managed this way. I lost the TV remote the other day. Fury.

(Alexa can engage with our TV but it’s very limited and really clunky.)

2. My shopping list is full of things I can’t find at Asda

The first thing we did was put a shopping list together, but none of our items could be found at Asda.

I’ll let Kenny explain this one.

3. I know all about new restaurant openings in Sunderland, and the traffic situation.

Apparently Döner Haus in Sunderland is cracking. How do I know this? Because Sun FM is my new favourite radio station. Alexa misheard me and put this on. We haven’t looked back.

So far, nothing radical, then. (I recently watched a Gary Vaynerchuk video in which he laments the underuse of voice technology.) Still, it’s clear that there is a huge future for the Alexa’s and Google homes of the world, and an enormous potential for them make life easier. And I hate life admin, so I’m all for that.